Trip Report June 4-14

pghfred

SBH Member
The trip to St Bart's and back to Newark using United and Winair was uneventful. We rented a small Nissan Match from Gumbs. The car ran well, had adequate power and was easy to park. We received the usual good service from Gumbs. I parked under the wrong tree the first night (didn't expect to wash a rental car on vacation).

The first three days we stayed at the Normandie Hotel. The hotel is in a good location and was spotless. We enjoyed a glass of wine at the end of each afternoon talking with Eula, the manager. She is a pleasure to talk with and does a fine job managing the property. I promised her that I would mention the new mattresses in each room.

We moved to La Baleine for a week. This was our second time staying at this villa. It was as wonderful as we remembered. I'm not sure what we enjoyed most, the coffee and croissant early in the morning, the pool after lunch or the glass of wine in the gazebo watching the boats below. We had a friendly tortoise visit us on a daily basis. Renting from Rosita is a great experience. She always goes out of her way to make sure your stay is as perfect as possible.

We had the opportunity to meet forum members this trip. We joined the June crew at a party hosted by Martin and Lisa. Betty invited us to a gathering she and Charles hosted at Au Soleil. We had the opportunity to help celebrate Marius's birthday party at Le Select. Meeting a nice group of people added to the enjoyment of the trip.

We made sure to return to our favorite restaurants: Santa Fe, Eddy's, The Hideaway, and Les Bananiers and added new ones for us: La Creparie, Black Ginger, Pipri Palace, La Gloriette and JoJo Burger. It was fun being at Andy's when he had karaoke night. The crowd politely applauded our poor rendition of a Crystals hit from the 60s. Favorite meals included wahoo and scallop dishes at Santa Fe, the lamb at Les Bananiers, the Toscane crepe at La Creparie and the apple tart at Eddy's. Getting pastries at Le Petit Columbe is near the top of the list. The bakery also makes good salads for take out.

We visited most of the beaches. High winds caused sand to chase us from Saline but we were able to return later in the week. We snorkeled at Columbier, Marigot, Shell, and Saline. Columbier is still our favorite beach.

The only negative to the trip was the paranoia about mosquitoes. I'm not sure what health risk is worse, getting bit and risking contracting one of the viruses or constantly applying Deep Woods Off, Mosquito Milk and breathing Baygon.

I can't end on a negative note. Our fourth visit to St Bart's was again a wonderful vacation. It is time to starting planning for a return.
 
I really enjoyed your report and the comments about great events shared with the Junies-a warm and wonderful group from the forum!
 
.........................The only negative to the trip was the paranoia about mosquitoes. I'm not sure what health risk is worse, getting bit and risking contracting one of the viruses or constantly applying Deep Woods Off, Mosquito Milk and breathing Baygon...............

We'll be arriving on Sunday, so I have to ask, how were the mosquitoes? This will be our 4th trip as well and this is the first time we plan on taking any repellent with us. The last three years I haven't noticed them at all.
 
Nice report -- thanks for sharing. This Rosita person sure seems wonderful. I need to meet her next trip down :)
 
We'll be arriving on Sunday, so I have to ask, how were the mosquitoes? This will be our 4th trip as well and this is the first time we plan on taking any repellent with us. The last three years I haven't noticed them at all.
The beginning and end of the trip wasn't too bad. The mosquitoes were very annoying in the middle. We didn't want to take the risk of getting bit so we very heavy users of the repellant sand the Baygon.
 
The Baleine turtle made its daily lunch stop during most days of our two February weeks; we always enjoyed his(?) visits.

Life is strange in many ways, one of which is the little things on which one fixates when on vacation. When our daughter was younger, we spent much of a weather challenged week cutting up cardboard to make little houses. Ain't life grand?
 
Terrific trip report! That gazebo is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon! I am usually a mosquito magnet and this year I tried Andy's recommendation to take B1 two weeks before the trip - whether it was a fluke or not - I didn't get one bite this year! Something to consider, along with the other mosquito accoutrement! :)
 
Thanks for the report, pghfred. Brought back memories from many wonderful visits to La Baleine and made me impatient for the next time.
 
Nice report. Thanks. We had very few mosquitos during our winter stay. Sorry to hear you were besieged with them. There were scheduled sprayings of every area of the island during Feb. Are they still doing that?
 
Nice report. Thanks. We had very few mosquitos during our winter stay. Sorry to hear you were besieged with them. There were scheduled sprayings of every area of the island during Feb. Are they still doing that?

Why yes they are! From today's Le News.

Screen Shot 2014-06-18 at 6.40.01 AM.jpg
 
We moved to La Baleine for a week. This was our second time staying at this villa. It was as wonderful as we remembered. I'm not sure what we enjoyed most, the coffee and croissant early in the morning, the pool after lunch or the glass of wine in the gazebo watching the boats below. We had a friendly tortoise visit us on a daily basis. Renting from Rosita is a great experience. She always goes out of her way to make sure your stay is as perfect as possible.

Was this the guy that visited you?
 

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Eula will be thrilled that you mentioned the new mattresses at the Normandie and compliments of her . . . she genuinely finds pleasure in spending time talking with guests and is a shameless promoter of the Hotel! Thanks for coming to the Normandie.

The enthusiasm in your report -- from beginning to end -- was fun to read. Snorkeling, hiking, beaches, diverse dining venues, a happy villa experience, partying with other Forum members . . . and no car troubles! A great formula for a memorable trip.
 
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